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stellar wind

noun

, Astronomy.
  1. the radial outflow of ionized gas from a star.


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Word History and Origins

Origin of stellar wind1

First recorded in 1960–65

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Example Sentences

David McComas has a favorite “astrosphere,” the environment created by a star’s stellar wind as it buffets the surrounding interstellar medium.

It is formed by warm, partially ionized clouds found in the Local Bubble, a large cavity filled with plasma that was likely produced by multiple supernova explosions, along with interstellar dust and other stellar winds.

Those stars then launch powerful jets, give off radiation, shed stellar winds and explode in supernovas.

The pair of stars is so incredibly hot and bright, that when they spin, they create stellar winds that can go as fast as 1% of the speed of light.

Mathematical calculations revealed that the mass and orbit of nearby objects, such as planets or another star, could be shaping these stellar winds.

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stellar nurserystellate